This blog has covered the booming clean technology industry in emerging markets before. Now comes news that venture capitalists in the U.S. are catching on. The alternative energy industry is "in" and not just because it's green, an International Herald Tribune article notes.
In emerging markets, the impetus for the growth in investments in alternative energy sources is fueled largely by high fuel costs, as we noted in our earlier blog entry "Clean Energy Firms Have Moment in the Sun."
Not so in Silicon Valley, where innovations in finance are finally catching up with cutting-edge technology. The IHT says:
"On its face, interest by investors appears to be driven by higher oil and energy prices and the drain they have created on the economy. But there is also a more immediate allure, as investors have become receptive to alternative energy companies."
One count puts the number of funds focused on U.S. clean tech companies at 100, up nearly 40 percent from a year ago. Whatever the motivation behind the surge of interest, the end clearly justifies the means.
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